Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

I was looking at the former title holders for the WWE Championship and couldnt help but come back to one particular year. 1999. In one calendar year the title changed over 12 times. Thats once a month for those of you keeping score at home.

People may complain that HHH and JBL are title whores, but I would rather see them hold it for 5 months at a time rather than subject myself to 12 title changes in a year.

The average title change is about 7 in a year. Even that may be too many. In 2003 there were only 3 changes and in 2004 only 2. Is this a lack of talent or the WWE realizing its time to make the title worth more.

I would have elaborated more, but I should have signed off from work already and its time to go home.

Simon

Crockerinho

Wrestling Moderator

12 was way to many but alot of them came in Jan and Feb when Rock and Foley were swapping the title every other week

JBL as been built up well as champ (although I wish it was someone else) and it makes the title mean something and the longer the reign for a heel the bigger the pop when he loses it

Lou

The Attitude Era was a lot of fun, but the amount of title swaps was too many. I remember even thinking during that time. In today's Corporate Era (because so many things that the WWE does today seems to be aimed at pleasing The Man), the small amount of title changes is one of the things WWE doing right.

Right now, I am really looking forward to the imminent title changes (WM!!), and I can't really say I have felt that way in a while. It will be a great mark out WM for me this time I think

Blitzkrieg

WC Hall Of Famer

I enjoyed The Rock-Foley feud and I liked that they were beating each other for the title all the time. It made it seem like Foley and Rock were on a even playing field and one man wasn't so much better than the other. When two guys fight and guy A beats guy B the first two times they fight, there isn't going to be much interest in the 3rd fight if you ask me. Now I know someone would bring up Austin's two WM victories over Rock and their 3rd match being a big deal, but it wasn't like The Rock never beat Austin. He just hadn't beat him at WM.

12 changes however, is way too many for one year and I like the fact that the champions for the most part are going on some good runs of late. Some people will never be happy and bitch cuz it is JBL and HHH going on these runs, but like someone said when they do finally lose their title it will be a much bigger deal and the guy who wins the title will look strong out of it. So it can go both ways.

I just don't like seeing one guy have the title for a month and lose it to guy B and then he loses it to guy C the next month and then two months later guy D wins the shit and then, etc. Too many different people holding the gold in that short span isn't a good thing.

Dr. Giganto

I agree with everything mentioned above, except for one thing Blitzkrieg said, that being that people some people will always complain just because it's JBL and HHH. I cant speak for anybody else, but I've been fine with JBL's title reign. It's only HHH I've had a problem with. Here's why:

The World title was introduced on Sept 2, 2002. HHH was given the title and held it for 2 1/2 months. He then lost it to Shawn Michaels, who held it for a month before losing it back to HHH.

HHH then held the belt until September (nine months), where he lost the belt to Goldberg. HHH then won the title back less than 3 months later. He then lost it to Benoit at Wrestlemania, then won it back at Unforgiven in September, and he's held it since.

So, its been 29 months since the World Title was introduced, and HHH has been champion 19 of those 29 months. Thats a bit of overkill if you ask me

Tommy 2 Slow

Formerly Narc

The title was worth way more in those days than it is now, cause great wrestlers held it. Today the title is worthless cause horrible wrestlers hold it. Thats the diff. I rather see the title swap like it did back then (between greats like, Austin, Foley, Rocky, Young HHH, Angle), than have 2 horrible champs hold it for 7 months. Does anyone really care when HHH loses the title now. I really dont anymore. Like Mister D said, he just overkilled that title. And even tho I like JBL and they build his character up good, hes horrible as well, as champ (not his fault, they should've built him up slowly towards the title).

Blitzkrieg

WC Hall Of Famer

Sure The Game has held the title like forever, but at least Benoit had a nice run, and the whole time Benoit was champ he was making HHH his bitch. I could give a crap about Goldberg cuz they should have never brought that guy in anyway.

I would like to see Y2J get another run as champ soon but it looks like he'll have to go through Batista. And I have zero problems with Batista having a run cuz he is like 35 years old..he doesn't have much time.

K Jay

Title Changes...Meh! I dont care who hold`s it as long as I`m entertained and right now the two heels holding belts is auctually entertaining. I also think HHH`s current reign is intresting because he`s trying to be a different kind of heel with kayfabe being a little thinner than usual, a few mentions of stroke here and ratings there, it plays to us internet users and many of us/you are buying into it and genuinly hating him for it. Which is after all what is suppossed to be the case with a heel. JBL is a average wrestler with an average gimick who is performing amazing feats, I was mildy appreciative when he first got the belt, I thought well he`s been around and he`s definetly put a lot into the troop things so he deserves his moment. Then two months later it was like "is he still champ?" a month later "i hate him ditch this champ" and now it`s "well i hate him he`s doing his job well". All in all the last 3 months have been outstanding compared to the same three months a year back and now everyone is gona pop like crazy when all the faces go in at `mania. Just when they do remember who made them seem important and makes it feel like a breath of fresh air, it`s the guys you`re hating on right now.

Y2J The King Of The World

I remember that I made my return as a wrestling fan right around late 98/early 99 and remembered thinking that the titles didn't switch as often in 5 years (when I watched before) as they did then. And, it wasn't just the WWF Title. It was the Intercontinental, Tag Team, Light Heavyweight, European, and (especially) Hardcore belts swapping owners on what seemed like a weekly basis. Fortunately for the "big" belt, it was swapped among deserving guys back then, so it wasn't tarnished as badly as the other belts, most of which no longer exist.

As far as the current handling of the belts, I, being old school, love that they've kept the belts on HHH and JBL as long as they have. It is the old way of booking champions. Why was Ric Flair a champion for 90% of the 80's? Because he was a great heel champion who people would pay to see get beat. Sure, he dropped the belt a dozen or so times, but nobody dominated the NWA in the 80's like him. That made the belt credible, and made him the greatest of all time. Same scenario with Hogan, only on the babyface side. People would pay money to watch their "hero" take on all challengers and still come out on top.

Don't mistake me here - HHH and JBL sure aren't Flair and Hogan. But, their lengthy runs with their respective belts is a step in the right direction. Now, they just need a solid babyface archrival to draw money. Raw tried that with Orton, but it looks like he's fizzled out (for the time being - can you say desperately needed heel change?), so now Batista's getting a run. Will it work? My inclination is to say no. I mark out for Batista, but I don't know that he has the je-ne-sais-quoi that Rock, Austin, Foley, or Hogan did to be a big time babyface draw (Did I really bust out je-ne-sais-quoi on a wrestling board??). But, if they stay behind him, unlike they did with Orton, he certainly has potential.

On Smackdown, JBL has blown through all of that show's top babyfaces except for John Cena. I fully expect Cena to take the tournament and win the strap at Mania, but I hope that they don't drop the feud there. Have it carry into the summer until Kurt can headline Summerslam with Cena. But, JBL's character has been given so much time and effort that if and when he drops the title, he needs to regain it within a year of losing it. I hate short title reigns like that (as aforementioned), but if he and Cena become the headline feud on Smackdown, and they're able to book it to remain interesting, I think that it could work.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: when the business is down, the casual fans who left for a while need to be able to pick up where they left off. To do that, the top guys need to remain consistent. That's been 1/2 of WWE's problem in the past couple of years. The big guys like Rock, Austin, and Foley have all moved on to greener pastures. In their place have been guys like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and Bob Holly, all of which have had short runs in the main event picture, only to leave or be forgotten (OK, so Bob was the only one forgotten). They need to invest in the long-term guys who the casual fans will remember when they choose to check things out again. Having guys with name power who don't stick around won't do it. Having new guys without name power won't do it initially. But, developing new guys into stars is what it will take. Hopefully, WWE gets that and is moving in the right direction.

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

Wow !! Once again brilliant work !!

JBL can lose the title, but I agree he needs to regain it at a big match within maybe even 6 months. Poor Eddie.......